Thompson Paces Toreros Over Santa Clara, 73-51

The problem with being 7-foot tall is that you’re pretty close to the rim, and you’re supposed to grab everything that hits the rim and bounces off. The University of San Diego’s Scott Thompson, who is exactly 84 inches tall, finds this quite a burden.

Here are seven reasons why Thompson has a hard time being 7-feet.

(1) He hardly ever jumps.

(2) He blocks shots on his tippy-toes.

(3) He isn’t very mean.

(4) People can block his shot standing on their tippy-toes.

(5) He doesn’t jump on his jump hook.

(6) He’s a better passer than rebounder.

(7) Everybody expects him to dominate.

But what everybody better realize--and please hurry up, for his sake--is that Scott Thompson cannot carry his basketball team by himself. He tried recently, and he couldn’t do it. Last week, for example, he got exactly zero rebounds against that powerhouse of the Northwest, Gonzaga University.

Zero.

Fortunately, he and his coach held a heart-to-heart conversation this week, and Thompson found out that he’s a lot better when he doesn’t try so hard to play like a 7-footer. He tried being just one of the boys in Thursday night’s game against Santa Clara, and it worked. He scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 73-51 USD victory.

The Toreros are 2-1 in the West Coast Athletic Conference play and 11-4 overall (Santa Clara falls to 1-2 and 10-7). Thursday’s game was their best of the season, according to Coach Hank Egan, and it all started with Thompson.

He grabbed his first rebound on the first Santa Clara miss of the night. On the second Santa Clara miss, there was Thompson again. He also made his first three shots.

USD led, 7-0. And then, 12-2. And then, 19-6. And so on.

All the while, Eric Musselman--Thompson’s teammate, roommate and best friend--kept cheering. Every once in a while, Musselman will write “Rebound!” on one of Thompson’s school notebooks. They went to eat some burritos together before Thursday’s game and, in between bites, Musselman was saying “Board!” or “Rebound!”

Of course, it was easy for Musselman--who’s 5-foot-7--to say that, but Thompson apparently got the message. By halftime, he had 16 points and 7 rebounds, and USD led, 35-26.

They ended the game early in the second half, but it wasn’t just Thompson, and that’s the key here--he didn’t have to do it alone. The score was 40-30 when Mark Manor took a beautiful pass from Thompson, scored, was fouled and completed a three-point play. A minute later, Thompson threw a pass over the Santa Clara press, and Manor scored again, was fouled again and completed a three-point play again.

Thompson--never jumping--tipped in a missed shot and made a free throw and the score suddenly was 49-32.

The lead went as high as 23 points, as Musselman--coming off the bench--even made two three-point jump shots.

“I’ve been practicing on my wastebasket,” he said.

Santa Clara Coach Carroll Williams, of course, called it was a wasted night.

“I didn’t recognize my team,” he said.

Thompson, though, recognized that he doesn’t have to try so hard. He’d been worried so much about scoring in the Gonzaga game that he hadn’t rebounded. In a team meeting after that game, his teammates apparently chided him, saying they couldn’t believe he hadn’t grabbed a single rebound.

He went in to Egan, and they didn’t shout at each other. No, Thompson wouldn’t shout at a fly. He’s a gentle giant. He just realized he had to have more fun out there, just relax and realize he doesn’t have to act like he’s 7-foot.

“I’ll tell you,” Thompson said after Thursday’s game. “Zero rebounds? I’ll never let it happen again.”